What is pain???

What is pain?

• the physical feeling caused by disease, injury, or something that hurts the body.
• mental or emotional suffering: sadness caused by some emotional or mental problem
• someone or something that causes trouble or makes you feel annoyed or angry

Many of us have felt pain at some point or another, whether it be physical, emotional, mental, psychological or spiritual. It may be very hard to know if someone is in pain because many of us hide it so well. Many of us don’t want others to see us in pain, for many reasons. Some of us and even people in our circles, may believe pain is a weakness, that maybe we are faking it, or we ourselves are not at the point in our lives to acknowledge that we have chronic pain. The problem with pain, any type, is that is hard to measure it accurately. This is because everyone handles pain differently, our bodies are different, and how we tolerate it is different. So my pain may be a 5, however that 5 I feel might send someone else to the emergency room.

I have been in pain now for 10+ years. I was born with Spina Bifida but it didn’t really affect me until I was 23 years old. I was a senior in college working on my Criminal Justice degree so I could work in Law Enforcement. After a tethered cord release lead to a complication of a spinal fluid leak, 10 surgeries later, I was finally able to leave the hospital. However, being in a hospital bed for long periods of time lead me to develop atrophy and I had to work hard with PT to walk and do things normally again. All of these surgeries lead to my diagnosis of CRPS/RSD and I also have anxiety and chronic migraines. I can totally relate to others who have chronic pain. I also have had a spectrum of pain, not only physical, but a range from emotional to spiritual and everything that I have mentioned above.

But it’s how you handle your pain and what you do with it that really matters. You can set around and go into a major depression or you can learn to help people in a similar situation. What do you choose to do?

People have asked me what have I done to help my chronic pain. I have turned to doctors, medications and even surgeries. However, that doesn’t always make you better. So what can we do about it? I have done so many things, some worked and others didn’t even come close. However over the years there are two things that remained constant for me:

1. My faith in God.
2. My determination to face things head on and prove doctors wrong!

So I have turned, where I always turned, to see what The Bible has said about pain….

Jeremiah said: “Why is my pain continuous, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?” (15:18)

In John 16:22 Jesus says, “So you also are now in anguish but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you.”

The Lord does not give us pain intentionally. Who would want their children in pain? And because He made us in His image, we are all His children. The Lord knows one day we will unite with Him and be pain free!!!!

Even Job spoke about what happens to the Believers when they are in pain. For he wrote: “Then I should still have consolation and could exult through unremitting pain, because I have not transgressed the commands of the Holy One.” (6:10)

I truly believe that one day, all this pain, sadness, hurt, and sometimes loneliness, will be no more and I will be able to dance again with the Lord!

Darrell Evans wrote an amazing song titled “Trading My Sorrows”. This song really resonates so well for me and for others who may be in pain, have sorrow, or are sick. I encourage you to listen to the song when the pain has taken over and you feel like you have nowhere to turn. This song is upbeat with amazing lyrics and can change your mood.

The most important message you can hear in all of this is:

You, my dear friend, are not alone and you always have the Lord waiting to listen to you. You just need to open the line of communication!!!

I will leave you with Darrell Evans lyrics to “Trading My Sorrows”:

I’m trading my sorrow, I’m trading my shame

I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord

I’m trading my sickness, I’m trading my pain

I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord

 [Chorus}

And we say yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord

Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord

Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord Amen

I’m pressed but not crushed, Persecuted not abandoned

Struck down but not destroyed,

I’m bless beyond the curse for His promise will endure

And His joy’s gonna be my strength

Though the sorrow may last for the night

His joy comes with the morning

Lord Jesus may you watch over all of us that are in pain everyday, no matter what kind of pain it may be. Pick us up when we fall, carry us when we can’t walk and shine your light when we cannot see the road ahead. Send the Holy Spirit to calm us and your love to warm us. Your love never fails! Give us the strength to make it through the pain, just as you Lord did when you were beaten, nailed to the cross with thorns placed on your head as you Lord died for our sins. May one day we meet you and become pain free as we dance and sing with joy for You! In your name Jesus, we pray. Amen!